Saturday 28 January 2012

Captain Chris Cheltenham Bound


Captain Chris heads the field for the Argento Chase on Cheltenham Festival trials day on Saturday.

Opponents include other potential contenders for the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March, such as Diamond Harry and Time For Rupert.

Last year's Gold Cup fifth and sixth, Midnight Chase and Tidal Bay, are set to run but ante-post favourite Grands Crus was ruled out on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Big Buck's seeks a 15th straight win in the Cleeve Hurdle.

Victory for Big Buck's, trained by Paul Nicholls, would take the horse closer to matching Sir Ken's record of 16 straight hurdles wins in the 1950s.

Captain Chris lines up for the feature race having finished a fine third for trainer Philip Hobbs behind Kauto Star and Long Run in last month's King George VI Chase at Kempton.